The Man She Married, The Daughter She Loved, A Long Held Secret
by daffodilsandstarships
Summary: It's no secret that Handsome Jack had a wife, but who was she? A year after the fall of Handsome Jack, she turns up alive and tells of her time with Jack, the birth of their daughter and how she lost everything.


The mood in Sanctuary had been one of perpetual cheer ever since the Vault Hunters had defeated Handsome Jack and the Warrior. And rightly so since all life on Pandora had nearly been eradicated by a power hungry tyrant. It had been exactly one year since that fateful day, which was now known as Liberation Day in Sanctuary. The whole town had pretty much put everything on hold to celebrate and the streets were packed. A town that was typically calm by Pandora standards had ascended into a euphoric chaos. Stella found herself questioning her decision to go outside as she inched through the crowds.

Briefly, it reminded her of the day she'd arrived on Pandora: lost and a little out of her element. A lawless planet didn't exactly make the best working environment for an ex-Hyperion lawyer. Still, she had managed to scrape by fairly well since people were always willing to pay for a helping hand if they needed it. Usually with things such as emptying shipments but occasionally she was able to land something slightly less mundane, like cataloguing Patricia Tannis's echo logs. The income wasn't as steady as she'd like, but the occasional trickle of odd jobs here and there allowed her to keep a warm seat at Moxxi's bar. Stella continued to push her way through the crowds, catching glimpses of defaced pictures of the man whose death they were celebrating. Even thinking his name made Stella sick to her stomach. How things had changed over the years. It had become one of those days where she found herself thinking about the past - probably because today was a day dedicated to it.

A strong glass of cinnamon whiskey was just what was needed, it was strong and burned just right, but she couldn't stomach the thought of going to Moxxi's bar. That place would be the pinnacle of celebration. _One drink, I go in gulp it down, and get out,_ she bargained with herself. _Or better yet, maybe Moxxi can just sell me the bottle. Yeah, that'll work._ Unfortunately, the moment she stepped into Moxxi's, the urge to turn around and go home intensified. She quickly made her way over to the bar, a place that Stella had visited many times but felt entirely foreign today.

"What'll it be today, sugar?" Moxxi drawled, all too cheerfully as soon as Stella found at seat at the crowded bar. "First drink's on me today."

Stella tried to hitch on a somewhat happy expression. "Actually, can I just buy a bottle of whiskey off you? I'm a little exhausted, I'd rather just celebrate on my own."

Moxxi immediately caught on that something wasn't right. "Something wrong, sugar? I've never seen you turn down a free drink."

Dammit, she was catching on. "I'm fine Mox, I'm just tired."

Moxxi didn't seem convinced. "Alright, I guess we're going to do this the hard way." She reached behind the bar, pulled out a bottle, and set it on the bar enticingly. "How about I give you the whole bottle on the house if you tell me what's up? "

In an effort to get out of this line of questioning, Stella decided to be as vague as possible. "It's just... I've been thinking a lot about the past lately, and I just need a drink. Please Moxxi, I'll pay you double; you know I'm good for it."

Moxxi smirked, "What about the past has you needing that bottle so bad?" She opened the bottle and poured Stella her much needed drink. "C'mon, it's the anniversary of the day this planet was saved, why aren't you up celebrating with everyone else? All you gotta do is spill and the rest of this bottle is yours"

Stella watched the ice chink in her glass and figured that another vague explanation could do the trick. "A while ago…I ah…." she hesitated before sipping down some liquid courage. "I knew Jack, before it… before it all went to hell."

Moxxi nodded, "So did I sugar, a lot of us did. Awhile ago myself and a few Vault Hunters put our trust in him and it only lead to bad things, but trust me, we're better off now that he's dead." She leaned against the bar with a conspiratorial look in her eye and added, "So, how did you know Jack anyways? Childhood friend? Long lost cousin? One night stand?"

"Yeah, something like that," Stella said evasively before realising how dumb it sounded.

Moxxi laughed, "Which one is it? You're not a Hodunk so I'm guessing you didn't have a one night stand with your cousin."

It was over for Stella, hiding her past for years had seemed so easy but it didn't seem worth the trouble to hide it anymore. She gulped down the rest of her drink hoping that the rush would make it easier. Before she could tell herself to stop, the words spilled out of her mouth, "I was his wife."

Moxxi looked at her in shock, "Well, I didn't expect to hear _that_."

Stella glanced down at her empty glass. "Yeah, and according to all records, I'm his dead wife."

Moxxi looked even more confused. "Wait - he thought you were dead?"

Stella nodded, "Yeah, everyone did." She paused, wondering if it was even worth explaining. "It's a long story I won't bore you with today. I'll just take that bottle and let you celebrate."

She started to get up but Moxxi stopped her. "Wait a second sugar, I'd like to hear more about this, and I've got a feeling there are a few others who'd lend and ear as well."

Stella sighed, "Honestly I'd rather not talk about it. It was a long time ago, and I'm over it. Today's just a little tougher, but I'm fine - _really_."

Moxxi shook her head, "No, I think you need to talk about it. The fact that you're so down in the dumps tells me you're not as over it as you say you are. I once dated Jack myself and you don't see me sulking about who he used to be or any of that nonsense. C'mon, we'll go somewhere quiet, I'll get someone to cover for me and we can talk about this."

Maybe Moxxi was right, maybe talking about it would help. "Fine," Stella gave in. "I'll talk, but I don't want anyone thinking that I'm on his side or anything like that."

Moxxi took Stella's empty glass and stacked it behind the bar, exchanging it for the bottle. "Don't you worry sugar, you just talk and we'll listen."


End file.
